Snowball Fight
by Raindrops on Roses
Summary: [One-shot] Kate and Tony have some fun on a cold winter day.


Title: Snowball Fight

Author: Shannon/Raindrops on Roses

Rating: PG-13   
Category: Humor

Disclaimer: These characters belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al.

Spoilers: None.

Author's Notes: *sigh* Here I go again. I am the queen of fluff.

  


Tony Dinozzo paced the bullpen. "I swear, boss, if we don't get out of here soon, I'm going to have a breakdown!" He stopped to look outside. It was a beautiful January afternoon. A light blanket of newly fallen snow covered the grounds outside of NCIS headquarters. The sun shone in a clear blue sky.

"Sit down, Dinozzo," Jethro Gibbs said in a no-nonsense tone. "Finish your report and you can go."

"Really?" Tony perked up. He sat at his desk and poised his hands to type... then stopped. "Gibbs, I really can't concentrate," he complained. The older agent sighed.

Caitlin Todd, sitting at the desk across the aisle from Tony, said, "Go outside and run around the block a few times." She chewed on her pen, not looking up from the file she was reading.

"What are you, my mother?" Tony asked sarcastically.

"No. God, I feel bad for that woman," Kate muttered under her breath.

"You're not very nice to me, Kate," Tony pouted.

Kate sighed and threw her pen down. "Gibbs, I'm taking the child outside to play. If we're not back in half an hour, I've probably killed him."

"Sounds good to me," Gibbs said.

"What? Taking him outside or killing him?" Kate asked, smirking.

"Use your imagination." Kate laughed and turned to the other man.

"Are you all bundled up, Anthony?" Kate said in a mocking voice.

"Yes, Mommy," Tony said. "See? I'm even wearing my gloves."

"I knew you could do something right," Kate said sweetly, patting him on the head.

"I'm always right."

Kate snorted. "That has to be the funniest thing I've ever heard." Tony stuck his tongue out at her. They headed for the elevator.

"Hey, guys; where you headed?" Abby Sciuto, the lab technician, asked as they disembarked in the lobby.

"Outside. Tony was about to wear a hole in the carpet."

"Well, have fun," Abby said, heading upstairs.

"Wanna join us?" Tony asked.

"Tony, it's thirty-five degrees outside. Do you really think I want to go out there? No, thanks."

Tony shrugged. "Your loss."

"Abby, you can't leave me alone with him!" Kate called after her. She was ignored. "Damn," she said.

"Aw, come on, Kate. My company isn't that bad, is it?" Tony mock-sulked.

"No..." Kate said. When Tony grinned, she said, "It's worse."

"Oh, I'll get you for that, Katie!"

"**Don't** call me Katie, Dinozzo."

"Why not? Gibbs does."

Kate didn't know what to say. "That's different."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"

"It... it just is, okay?" She pulled the door open and exited into the courtyard behind the building.

"Hey... hey, Kate, wait up!" Tony called as she left him behind. He caught up to her and said, "Look, Kate, I didn't mean anything by it. I was only teasing."

Kate turned to him. He seemed serious. "Thank you, Tony," she said, smiling slightly. That was, until his next comment.

"After all, if you and Gibbs want to have pet names for each other, what can I do?" He grinned as she whipped around.

"You... you..." she spluttered. "I'll give you a pet name, you conceited, arrogant bastard!" She bent down and scooped up a handful of snow.

"Hey, I thought Gibbs was the bastard. I'm the chauvinist, remember?" Tony backed away as she approached him slowly. "Kate... Kate. Put that down, Kate. Come on... I was only joking! Really!" He turned and ran. She released the snowball, hitting him square in the back.

"Running away, huh? You afraid of a girl?" she taunted.

"Afraid? Hell, yes! You have a mean streak a mile wide, Caitlin Todd," Tony declared from behind a picnic table.

"I think that's the nicest thing you ever said to me, Tony," she replied.

"I'm getting soft in my old age." He stood slowly. "But not that soft!" He hurled a tightly packed snowball at her. She ducked, but was hit in the shoulder.

"Ooh... I'll get you for that!"

"Hey, you started it!" He grinned and threw himself down as another round white projectile came flying at him. He scooped up a handful of snow and flung it at her, not bothering to pack it into a ball. Kate jumped behind a hedge and began to create an arsenal for her own use.

"You know, Dinozzo, I haven't had a good snowball fight since I was a kid," Kate called out.

"Why? Your take-no-prisoners attitude turn the boys off?" Tony grinned.

"Well, that... and I was the one who never followed the rules," she said, stacking her supplies.

"Really? Are there rules for this game, Agent Todd?"

"None whatsoever, Agent Dinozzo."

"Good." A barrage of snowballs flew in both directions. The fight began in earnest.

Kate, who had run out of snow in her little area, peeked around the hedge. Tony was busy making new ammunition, glancing over her way every once in a while. When he looked away again, she got to her feet and ran toward a table—running right into a spectator.

"I didn't think this was football, Katie," an amused voice said. Kate looked up.

"Sorry, Gibbs," she apologized. She moved to go around him, but he blocked her way. "What are you doing?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"Would you say two-against-one was fair?" he asked, seemingly ignoring her question.

"No," Kate said slowly.

He grinned evilly. "Too bad." His arms shot out and spun her around. "Let 'er rip, Dinozzo!" he called. Snowballs began to fly toward her. She tried to avoid them, but was held firm.

"Okay, okay, I give!" she finally relented. Gibbs let go of her arms, and Tony raised his fists into the air.

"And the supreme champion is... Tony Dinozzo!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and started making cheering noises. "Thank you, thank you." He bowed to an invisible audience.

Suddenly, a voice behind him whispered in his ear, "Payback's a bitch, Dinozzo." Kate grabbed the collar of his coat and his shirt, and shoved a handful of snow down his back.

He yelled, "Damn it, Kate, that's **cold**!" She darted inside, giggling.

"You're just gonna let her do that to me?" Tony demanded of Gibbs, who had been watching the proceedings with amusement.

"Like she said, payback's a bitch," Gibbs said over his shoulder. "And I don't want to be on the receiving end of her payback."

Tony sighed and followed, trying to shake the snow out of his shirt as he went. "You? Payback?" he muttered. "Yeah, right."


End file.
